How we are governed

Anna joined the Board in July 2020.

As Chair of the Vision Foundation, Anna oversaw a transformation of the charity’s branding, strategy and finances and established a collaborative approach to working with partners within the sector.

Previously, she initiated the establishment of the UK educational collection, now RNIB’s Bookshare, to offer blind and partially sighted and other disabled learners equal access to the Curriculum. Her early career included working on employment programmes, delivering training and development within a service organisation, leading training on the roll out of equalities legislation, working on inclusion programmes including with City of London Police, banks and the retail sector. She is a trained mediator with a Masters in Sociology and Social Policy.

Anna is a long-time advocate for greater inclusion of disabled people and blind and partially sighted people in particular. She has lived experience of sight loss. This experience drives her commitment to equal citizenship for blind and partially sighted people.

Martin is in his second term as a Trustee, joining the Board in September 2019. Martin is a highly experienced Trustee and Chief Executive. He was previously CEO of the British Council, where he developed a close and effective working relationship between the trustees and executive, while maintaining a clear separation of the roles.

Martin is currently Chair of the Great Britain China Centre, and previously served as Vice Chair of Leonard Cheshire Disability. At Leonard Cheshire, he chaired the Nominations and Governance Committee of the Board and was a member of the People Committee. He also led the charity on governance of the newly established group structure.

In addition, Martin is currently a trustee of United Purpose, a medium sized international development charity, and of the Dorset Community Foundation, which delivers charitable outcomes in his local county. His other non-executive experience includes a period on the Board of House of Fraser, where he chaired the Nominations Committee and sat on the Audit and Remuneration Committees.

Alice is in her first term as a Trustee of RNIB, having joined the Board in September 2020. With a background in psychology, Alice spent the early part of her career in Organisational Transformation, advising companies on all areas of people development including; Leading through Change, Teamwork and Innovation.

She then moved to the not-for-profit sector and spent a decade leading highly successful fundraising teams in some of the UK’s most loved charity brands including; Alzheimer’s Society, Make-A-Wish UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Alice is also a Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) and the owner of Seamark Consulting, which specialises in leadership coaching and senior level interim projects.

Passionate about people and purpose, Alice develops motivating, collaborative and resilient cultures that lead to significant growth in income and, most importantly, support, change and a voice for vulnerable communities.

Kamiqua Lake, known as Kam, joined RNIB’s board of Trustees in March 2023.

Kam is the founder and CEO of Coldr, a marketing communications consultancy which partners with corporates to help them be more inclusive in their approach to marketing and communications. Prior to establishing Coldr, Kam led integrated communications for national and multinational companies including the National Citizen Service, Aldi, Hertz and Coca Cola, as well as consumer health campaigns for leading brands and companies.

Kam also established the UK Black Comms Network, a membership body that empowers PR and communications professionals to connect, network and thrive. Kam is passionate about inclusion, building communities and inspiring the next generation and is a mentor and a qualified life coach. As a Trustee, Kam aims to be a critical friend to help bring even more clarity and focus to RNIB’s marketing and communications to help future proof the organisation and realise our ambitions.

Stephen is in his first term as a Trustee, joining the board in September 2020. He has worked in fast-paced commercial environments for many years in organisations as diverse as BT, Sony Music, Waterstones and, most recently, as VP Technology at PlayStation. He brings a wealth of experience of using technology to improve efficiency and build deeper relationships with customers.

He is excited to be part of the work that the RNIB is doing to get fit for its digital future, making the most of the opportunities that technology can bring to transform the lives of people with sight loss and to connect people through communities.

Amanda is in her second term as a Trustee, joining the Board in September 2019. Amanda is a qualified and experienced lawyer, recently retired and keen to give more time to the visual impairment and disability sector, and particularly keen to see charities in the VI sector working together more closely. Amanda is also on the Board of Blind in Business, where she serves as Treasurer, and is a member of the Macular Society.

Liz is in her second term as a Trustee, joining the Board in September 2019. She is a Chartered Accountant and currently Finance and Corporate Services Director and Company Secretary for the Children’s Society.

With a commercial background but, also with almost 20 years’ experience in the charity sector, Liz has an excellent understanding of charity governance, implementing key improvements in this area in her various roles in charities working in regulated services. In addition, she has extensive experience of strategic planning in fast-paced, changing environments, as well as experience in delivering strategic finance implementation, including property, investment and pension strategies, and organisational change.

Deborah Womack is a second-term Trustee, having joined the Board of RNIB in September 2020. For more than 20 years, Deborah has been leading the transformation of global businesses into customer-focused enterprises, by instituting data-driven strategies and programmes that customers love.

Voted a 2024 Women in Data® Top Twenty in Data & Tech award winner, Deborah is a seasoned marketing visionary and industry trailblazer with a remarkable career spanning more than two and a half decades. Deborah’s marketing, data and customer expertise, honed by successes in 'Big Four' consulting, multinational communications agencies, and FTSE 100 brands, has firmly established her as a true luminary in the marketing and data industry. One of the hallmark achievements in Deborah's illustrious career was her tenure as a partner at Ernst & Young LLP. At EY and Deloitte Digital, she was instrumental in reshaping the marketing landscape for some of the world’s biggest brands. Never settling for the status quo, Deborah is a founding member and senior strategic advisor to Meta for BRiM (Black Representation in Marketing), board member and senior strategic advisor for GTA Black Women in Tech and advisory board member at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Charity Foundation. For two years running Deborah has been Chair of Judges in the data storytelling category at the Data Marketing Assoc. Awards and in 2023 a Eurobest Awards Jurist in the Creative Business Transformation category.

Looking to the future, Deborah remains committed to driving transformation excellence, fostering growth, and empowering the next generation of leaders to realise the potential in data and technology advances.

Tanya Castell MBE has a portfolio of non-executive directorships; she is an external member of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Committee, an independent non-executive director on the board for asset management company, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership. Tanya is also on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee.

Her former board roles include Handelsbanken plc, Faster Payments Scheme, being a governor of Fettes College, chair of community charity Soirbheas and a former vice chair of Scottish Canals.

As an expert in risk management, corporate governance and regulation, Tanya spent most of her career working in financial services for companies such as JP Morgan and UBS.

Tanya is a passionate champion for inclusion and diversity. She is the founder of Changing the Chemistry, a charity that seeks to improve board diversity and received an MBE for her work in this area in 2016.

Paul Arnold MBE is the Deputy Chief Executive at the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Paul has over 25 years’ experience of data, privacy and information rights regulation, empowering and safeguarding the public whilst enabling businesses to responsibly innovate and grow. He is experienced in all aspects of the leadership and transformation of large public bodies.

In addition to being an experienced executive leader and board member, Paul has lived with severe sight loss since birth and has been an active member of the visually impaired (VI) sporting community for most of his life.

Paul is passionate about equality of access to opportunity. In particular, he is driven by the importance of challenging the assumptions in our society and our economy which often limit the confidence and opportunities for blind and partially sighted people to enjoy rewarding careers.

Paul was also awarded an MBE for services to regulation and equality, diversity and inclusion in the 2024 King's New Year Honours.

Mary joined RNIB as an Associate Trustee in December 2023 and became a Trustee in July 2024. Associate Trusteeship is a brand new pilot scheme from RNIB which supports people on the pathway to full Board membership.

Mary is the managing partner of city law firm Fox Williams where she also heads up the firm’s publishing and digital media practice.

With a career rooted in corporate law she strongly believes that good governance, diversity and inclusion and commercial-mindedness are at the heart of success for any enterprise.

Mary is passionate about accessible content, regardless of medium, and regularly advises on the potential impact of AI for publishers, authors and other content generators as well as their end-users (i.e. the readers). She has a wealth of trustee experience, most recently having been a trustee for the Nystagmus Network and a further education college governor.

Visually impaired since birth, Mary is passionate about increasing the number of blind and partially sighted people in the workplace and is keen to encourage those who are in employment to act as role models and mentors to others.